NMFS News Release

Northeast Regional Office
One Blackburn Drive
Gloucester, MA 01930

No Landing Summer Flounder in Rhode
Island

This letter is to inform you that the summer flounder (fluke) commercial quotas available to the
State of Rhode Island has been harvested.

Effective October 15, 1996, fishing vessels issued a Federal moratorium permit for the summer
flounder fishery may no longer land summer flounder in Rhode Island for the remainder of the
1996 calendar year. Additionally, dealers issued Federal dealer permits for summer flounder are
advised that they may not purchase summer flounder from Federally permitted vessels that land in
Rhode Island for the remainder of the calendar year.

Summer flounder regulations at 648.4(b) provide that Federal permit holders agree as a
condition of the permit not to land summer flounder in any state that has been determined to no
longer have commercial quota available. Thus, as Rhode Island no longer has quota available,
further landings in those states by Federally permitted vessels are prohibited for the remainder of
the 1996 calendar year.